Christmas Shopping
by Teenage.Dream92
Summary: Tyson contemplates shopping for one friend in particular, and gets advice from an unlikely source.


**(A/N):** Hey all! You might be wondering why I'm posting all this holiday one-shot stuff all of a sudden. Well, the truth is, I'm feeling so festive, and I just feel like writing about Christmas, lol! So hopefully this one-shot won't disappoint you guys :) It's my second attempt at one and it's kind of short, so again, thoughts are always welcome! :D Anyways, enjoy :)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Beyblade.

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**Christmas Shopping**

It was safe to say that Tyson Granger was uncomfortable.

He had been wandering around the mall for a good three hours now, and it was definitely taking its toll on the eighteen-year-old. Given, two of those hours were spent in the food court, but still; three hours in a mall for anything was just plain unhealthy. Beads of sweat were beginning to form on his face, his legs were weak from heading up countless flights of stairs and scavenging many stores, and he was just so damn _hungry_. But the worst part was that he couldn't _leave_. It was a painful consequence for leaving all his Christmas shopping until the very last minute, Christmas Eve. God, he never hated himself more than he did now.

Tyson mentally cursed himself as he strolled slowly through the mall, barely paying attention to any of the stores he passed. He _should_ have been paying attention; he _should_ have been looking out for possible gifts. Instead, he opted to throw around profanities in his head, blaming this person and that, attempting to brush the responsibility to someone else. But try as he might, Tyson couldn't get out of his mess this time; he knew it was his entire fault.

With a defeated sigh, Tyson stopped in his tracks, pondering his next move. He blew his bangs out of his face with an exasperated huff and placed his hands in his jacket pockets. He briefly glanced at where he was, hoping that God had placed some sort of magical store around his whereabouts, one which would meet all of his needs. Much to his dismay, there was no such store; in fact, there was nothing remotely useful to him there. He had unknowingly walked towards the mall's exit, where the stores were extremely scarce. But luckily for Tyson there _was_ an unoccupied massage recliner placed conveniently a couple of meters in front of him. Grinning cheekily, he briskly walked to the chair and plopped himself down.

He sunk into the recliner, simultaneously pulling the lever which extended the footrest. He slid out his wallet and rooted around for some money to insert into the chair so that it would start the massaging.

"Damn it! I have no quarters," he pouted upon discovering his lack of change, sticking out his lower lip and crossing his arms. It was bad enough he had to spend the afternoon in a freaking _mall_, and now he had to put up with sitting in a chair with no massager. Things were just not going right for him. Wearily, Tyson closed his russet eyes, trying to block out the sounds of the frantic holiday shoppers.

Even though he attempted to forget his holiday shopping fiasco, the images of his friends just kept popping up. He saw his best friend Max, waking up to a present with his name on it, a label indicating to him that the gift was from Tyson himself. He saw him grinning vivaciously and tackling him to the ground with a hug when he saw the bubble machine he'd managed to snag him – something Max had always wanted. Then Tyson found himself thinking about Ray's reaction to the Japanese cookbook he'd found at the bookstore. He would grin, his cat-like fangs peeking out, and he would thank Tyson graciously for the wonderful present. The Chief would probably bow down to him when he opened the autographed Ming-Ming CD Tyson had bought for him; he worshipped that girl like a goddess.

And then there was Mr. Sourpuss himself, Kai. Initially, Tyson hadn't planned on getting the stoic captain anything. But he soon decided against it, shuddering at the thought of the potentially painful consequences he would have to face, probably of the training variety. So Tyson had walked to the nearest _Ardene_ and bought a bright pink scarf for his intimidating friend; if he had to spend money on the grouch, he might as well get some laughs out of it, too. The images of a cheerful Max, Ray, and Kenny morphed into one of Kai, looking irritated as he saw his gift. Tyson smirked to himself, enjoying the moment.

But there was one person he hadn't yet gotten a gift for. Hilary. He pictured her on Christmas morning, her chestnut curls a little messy and her expression a little tired, but nonetheless excited. Her sparkling ruby eyes would light up at all the gifts, but they would especially glimmer when he gave her a present he had specially picked for her. Smiling to himself, Tyson then imagined her reaction – tears of happiness would form behind her eyes, and then she would give him a hug, maybe a peck on the cheek. Tyson bolted his eyes open at once, feeling his face getting hot at the thought. Yes, he could picture her reaction to the present. But what he couldn't figure out was what that gift _was_.

_Damn you, Hilary_, he thought to himself, _You're_ _making my life difficult even when you're not around_.

"Excuse me, mister?"

Tyson was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a thin voice coming from his left side. Slowly, he shifted in the recliner, trying to face the person who had addressed him. When he fully turned around, he came face-to-face with a pair of large crimson eyes staring at him curiously.

"Mister, are you done sitting in that chair?"

Tyson blinked at him in a somewhat dazed stupor before replying. "Hey, kid. Shouldn't you be with your parents or something?"

"They told me to wait here," the little red-eyed boy responded, looking down at his shoes. "So are you done or not?"

"Look, kid," Tyson replied, a scowl plastered to his face, "I'm not exactly having the best day, and this recliner is the only thing that hasn't screwed up yet for me. So no, I guess you could say I'm _not_ done."

Tyson recoiled when he saw the beginnings of tears forming behind the eyes of the child. His huge, puppy-dog eyes started to glisten and his lower lip began to quiver uncontrollably. Just when the little boy was on the verge of letting out a massive shriek and crying, Tyson leaped off the recliner and placed the kid on the sofa in one swift motion. Almost instantaneously, the waterworks ceased, leaving the child with a wide grin and a sunny expression. "Yay!" he cheered, clapping his hands.

"Ugh, kids…" Tyson grumbled, crossing his arms as he eyed the mischievous boy sceptically. He knew that trying to get the recliner from him now was a lost cause; one wrong move and the kid would cry, making Tyson a target for angry holiday-crazed shopping parents. With a slight disapproving bob of his head, Tyson slowly backed away from the evil child. He had barely taken three steps when he heard the thin voice call out to him once again.

"Hey, mister? Why were you having a bad day?"

Tyson's whirled around to face the little tyke, and finding himself propelled towards those damn cute ruby eyes, he backtracked. "Um, well," Tyson rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I need to find a gift for this girl, and I can't think of anything. It's driving me _insane_."

"Your girlfriend?" the little boy questioned, staring at him interestedly.

Tyson could feel himself becoming a little flustered. How did this kid even know about relationships? "No! Well…I mean, she's a _girl_ who's my _friend_." Why was he explaining this to a random four-year-old again?

"Well I don't know about your girlfriend," the boy began, ignoring the grimace that appeared on Tyson's face when he said the final word, "But I have a sister. And she loves jewellery. Preferably gold."

Tyson cocked an eyebrow at the little boy, contemplating the idea. He often noticed that Hilary wore jewellery every day, always matching the colour of her necklace and earrings to her outfits. Although she hung out with a bunch of guys, she sure was a girl at heart. And even though it would cost him a little more than he planned on spending, her reaction to a gold necklace would be something worth paying for. Maybe the kid had a point. "Oh, hey, thanks kid," he murmured, checking his watch for the time. It was a quarter to five, so he still had fifteen minutes to buy Hilary the necklace before the mall would close. Hastily, Tyson said goodbye and began to jog back towards the main area of the mall.

As he sat on the recliner, the little boy watched as Tyson became smaller and smaller, and then finally disappeared around a corner. His small face broke into a wide, toothy grin, two dimples gracing his face on either cheek. He was still beaming when his sister met him at the recliners, her hands holding two ice cream cones.

"So? Did you do it?" she asked him, a faint smile appearing on her own lips.

"Yeah, Hilary," the boy answered, reaching out for one of the icy treats. "He fell for it hook, line and sinker."

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**(A/N): **Okay, so there it is! Tell me what you guys think in a review, if you'd like. Other than that, HAPPY HOLIDAYS. Don't work too hard; take it easy :)


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